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The UK IT market has some unique characteristics compared to other job sectors. It is constantly evolving alongside the rapid development of new technologies and programming languages.

The market is also significantly impacted by changes in work patterns and broader societal shifts, such as the emergence of previously unknown roles like "psydesigner" or "ethicist" linked to the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

A Growing Sector

According to the Opteamis barometer on IT market trends, this industry is experiencing consistent growth at a rate well above the national average.

It is also one of the few sectors where demand often exceeds supply. Some professions face a real talent shortage, particularly in areas like:

• AI
• Data science
• Cybersecurity
• Platforms and tools like JIRA and GIT, which are regularly in the top 5 most demanded technologies

When it comes to sought-after skills, software design and development remain the most in-demand, significantly outpacing cloud computing and infrastructure. Roles in IT management and project management, while still in high demand, are relatively less so.

IT Market Trends for Employees

To stay up-to-date on the latest job trends in the UK IT market, feel free to consult our IT barometer.

There you'll find the skills and profiles most sought after by recruiters, as well as relevant job opportunities.

IT Market Trends for Freelancers

For IT freelancers, the high demand and talent shortage is driving an increase in daily rates. However, significant disparities persist depending on:

• the provider's profile and skills
• their region
• their experience
• their working conditions (number of intermediaries, remote work, etc.).

Additionally, there is no official rate schedule for daily rates in IT. Each freelancer must calculate their own rate based on their expenses, status, and desired profit margin.

To help you calculate your own daily rate, you can consult our database of IT expert rates. The presented rates are calculated from the contributions of independent IT professionals who are members of the Freelance-info community. You can sort them by your specialty and region.

Key Players in the IT Market

The IT market involves a variety of players, including end clients, recruitment agencies, and IT services/digital services companies (known as SSIIs or ESNs).

IT Services Companies (SSIIs/ESNs)

The acronym ESN replaced SSII after 2013, but they are essentially the same structures. These companies offer their clients digital services, including:

• website and software creation
• production, maintenance, and evolution of these sites and software
• IT infrastructure management
• consulting
• security, network audits, etc.

ESNs can specialise in a specific sector (banking, insurance, etc.). They generally sign contracts for several months or years with their clients and commit to providing their IT skills and resources mainly through their employees and collaborators.

IT professionals can thus be hired on permanent contracts (CDI), fixed-term contracts (CDD), or freelance contracts by the ESN. After interviews and tests, the ESN will assign you a job with one of their end clients. Equally, end clients can request that you go through the ESN they are accustomed to working with.

IT Recruitment Agencies

The recruitment agency is another intermediary between companies and IT employees or freelancers.

However, unlike ESNs, these agencies hire you directly by one of their end clients.

Recruitment agencies also have an advisory role and can help you integrate into a network of companies and benefit from several internal job opportunities.

In return, they take a percentage of the employee's annual gross salary or the freelancer's turnover.

Recruitment Platforms

Recruitment platforms or portals allow companies looking for employees or freelancers to browse candidates' profiles and CVs.

For example, our platform reserved for IT recruiters: Turnover-it.com brings together the CV databases of our two historical sites for IT opportunities and jobs: Freelance-info and Carriere-info.

Companies can post their offers and disseminate their intercontracts in our CV database to obtain profiles of IT and IS specialists suited to their needs.

As a candidate, you can browse the list of recruiting companies and be directly redirected to corresponding offers by visiting our IT recruiters directory.

End Clients

End clients include all companies and organisations looking to hire an IT employee or contractor. They can go through one of the intermediaries mentioned above or proceed with direct recruitment.

If you want to work as a freelancer without intermediaries, you will need to create a legal structure (micro-enterprise, SASU, EURL, etc.) to establish a service contract. You can also use a contracting company to work independently while retaining the benefits of an employment contract and outsourcing the management of contracts and billing to the contracting company.

The acronym IT represents the vast field of Information Technology.

While software development is at the heart of the digital sector, it relies on and interacts with many other skills and professions.

IT jobs are constantly evolving, driven by a market in perpetual growth and change. The increasing digitalization of businesses and work methods, the rise of AI, IoT (Internet of Things), and the exponential growth of cybersecurity are leading to the creation of new roles and professions.

To help you get a clearer picture, here are some of the most in-demand positions in the IT field. Design and Development Jobs

IT Developer

The developer position is probably the first that comes to mind when thinking about IT jobs.

Software Developers are professionals in algorithms and programming languages. However, their role is not limited to just writing code for applications and software.

Developers must be able to design and understand a specification document detailing the technical specifics of a project. For this, they can participate early in gathering user needs.

During and after development, they are also responsible for testing and deploying their application and ensuring its maintenance.

Developers generally specialise in a technology, language, or specific part of development, for example:

• The back-end developer, who manages all the "invisible" parts of development, such as database connection and management
• The front-end developer, who focuses more on the user interface, integrating designs from the web designer
• The full-stack developer, who combines both back-end and front-end development functions
• The DevOps, which is first a programming approach but also a role combining developer and system administrator tasks

Database Administrator (DBA)

A DBA is responsible for the creation, maintenance, security, and optimization of an organisation’s databases.

They manage access rights to the databases, establish standards and best practices, and can provide support to development teams by:

• Creating data sets for testing
• Advising developers on techniques to optimize performance
• Participating in database modeling
• Validating database schema changes

Project Management Jobs

IT Project Manager

Sometimes called an integrator project manager, application project manager, or Product Owner (PO) in Agile methodology, IT Project Managers (CPI) are experts who manages a team of technicians to design, develop, and integrate a software or IT solution.

They must have both technical and managerial skills and be able to consider project timelines and budgets.

Scrum Master

Scrum Masters (SM) are related to the Scrum methodology. They manage the product and software in collaboration with development teams.

Unlike the Project Manager, they do not aim to lead the team but rather support and help organize and distribute tasks. They notably facilitate daily scrums, planning poker, retrospectives, and other stages of the Scrum method.

Networking

Network Administrator

Network Administrators ensure access to and the security of the information system. They can create and develop an organisation’s IT network and evolve it according to the applications and software used.

They must also detect and coordinate anomalies and conduct security and technology monitoring.

Information Systems Architect

A IS (information systems) Architect sets up and coordinates all equipment and software (servers, operating systems, computers, etc.) to adapt them to their company’s or client's needs. Their tasks also include an audit and needs analysis phase, as well as controlling the efficiency, monitoring, and maintenance of their IS.

IT Consulting Jobs

IT consultants work with companies that want to evolve their IS. They propose technical solutions adapted to the organisation and its objectives. For this, they may design and participate in the installation and supervision of the IS’s evolution, ensuring its performance and security.

They also provide advice on which tools and software to choose and how to use them (e.g., preventive maintenance or access management). Finally, they can conduct training sessions for IT teams.

IT consultants are generally specialized in a defined field such as:

• Information systems consulting
• Decision-making IT consulting
• Participating in database modeling
• Integrated solutions consulting

Cybersecurity Jobs

Information Systems Security Manager (ISSM)

A ISSM ensures that cybercriminals do not infiltrate an information system.

To do this, they define and implement the organisation’s security policy, particularly regarding access rights, permissions, procedures, and incident recovery plans.

They also contribute to ensuring the availability of the company's information system and conduct ongoing security monitoring to anticipate vulnerabilities and new types of cyberattacks.

AI and Data Jobs

Data Analyst

A Data Analyst collects, studies, and interprets data sets to answer a question or solve a problem.

This role is part of IT because a Data Analyst will use:

• Databases and SQL queries
• Programming languages
• Command languages like SAS
• Data visualization software such as Power BI

Data Scientist

A Data Scientist is also a professional in data extraction and analysis. Unlike the Data Analyst, they do not limit themselves to raw analysis but create predictive statistical and mathematical models that serve as the basis for "intelligent" decision-making tools. They also have excellent knowledge of Big Data (Data Mining).

Artificial Intelligence Engineer

An AI engineer creates predictive models and algorithms using machine learning, neural networks, and deep learning.

These algorithms serve as the basis for AI software and systems.

AI engineers therefore have a good understanding of data analysis and science, as well as programming to design and maintain AI models.

This list is, of course, not exhaustive, as IT is a field in constant evolution. New roles are developing with AI, such as Chief Data Officer (CDO) in charge of data governance or the Cloud Architect.

Mixed skills are also highly sought after, such as DevSecOps, who must know how to program and maintain and monitor security infrastructures.

To find more IT profiles and jobs, you can directly consult the list of IT jobs and the related offers.

The IT market is booming, and job opportunities are multiplying. However, to quickly find the job suited to your profile, skills, and goals, certain steps are essential.

Prepare Your CV and Create Your IT Profile

The CV is the first "contact" a recruiter has with you. It is almost indispensable for all candidates seeking a salaried position.

A "traditional" CV can work, but make sure to highlight your IT skills, including:

• the programming languages you master
• the software, applications, and environments you regularly use (e.g., integrated development environments and source code managers)
• your degrees and certifications
• additional skills (such as knowledge of Agile methodology, Scrum framework, or DevOps approach)
• additional skills (such as knowledge of Agile methodology, Scrum framework, or DevOps approach)

Online CVs or one-page websites are also excellent ways to showcase your skills and potentially link to your various projects.

For a freelancer, the CV is completely different since it aims not to obtain a job, but to sell a service...

You can mention:

• your areas of expertise
• links to your professional profiles
• similar missions you have worked on
• your rates (daily rate or budget range)
• your availability
• your mobility
• if possible, the brands or companies you have collaborated with

Once created, don't hesitate to share your CV and profile and update them regularly. You can create your IT profile on Free-Work to be visible hundreds of companies in the IT, SI, and WEB sectors.

Regularly Check IT Job Opportunities

To not miss any opportunity, you can check our IT job offers.

We share nearly 1,000 new offers every day. To help you find the one that suits you, you can use filters (cities, departments, regions, skills, company names, with or without remote work, etc.) and create alerts to receive daily emails with the latest offers matching your criteria from the past 24 hours.

If you are interested in the job, you can send your IT profile to recruiters with a single click after registering for free on Free-Work's IT job board.

Register on Free-Work's Job Board

Registering on Free-Work's job board allows you to gain visibility with recruiters and contact them more easily. The registration is quick, simple, and secure. You just need to upload your CV and quickly complete your IT profile thanks to our CV analyser, which saves you time in filling out your data, experience, and skills.

Then, you can:

• choose and adjust at any time your availability and the visibility of your profile to IT recruiters
• discover and interact with our Free-workers community
• create alerts based on your criteria to not miss any job offers
• additional skills (such as knowledge of Agile methodology, Scrum framework, or DevOps approach)
• find at any time your selection, grouping all your favourite offers, the companies you want to follow, and your application history

Stay Competitive

The IT field is constantly evolving. The skills in demand change with the popularity of programming languages, the emergence of new technologies, the growing shortage of profiles in certain sectors, etc.

To remain competitive throughout your IT career, you will often need to train and stay informed about changes by keeping up with technological, security, and sometimes legal developments.

To easily stay up-to-date with the latest trends in information technology, development, IT systems, and the market, you can check out our blog dedicated to Tech News and IT Stories.